Gavin Rossdale of Bush speaks to band's 30-year legacy ahead of Fantasy Springs show

During a recent Zoom interview, Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale appeared on camera and looked as youthful at 58 as he did when the band started appearing on MTV and magazine covers three decades ago. But he expressed discontent over having to use reading classes.

“Once my eyes started to go, I was like ‘F**k, it’s real, we really are disintegrating,’” Rossdale said.

In 1994, Bush’s debut album, “Sixteen Stone,” sold six million copies. The songs "Comedown," "Machinehead," and "Glycerine" all entered the Billboard Top 100 chart and the music videos were in heavy rotation on MTV.

But when Rossdale thinks back to himself in 1994, he spoke of inevitable maturity as a person and songwriter, and used his reading glasses to explain.

“If you think of reading glasses and eyes the opposite way as you age, real life is the same. Creatively, you’re gaining insights and perspective over time,” Rossdale said. “Whenever I sit there like an idiot and wish for things to be better or easier, there’s a voice in my head that says ‘When is it enough?’ after a 30-year career in music, (we're) still playing to relatively big crowds, and we still have a big audience. There’s plenty of bigger acts for sure, but after you’ve been around a few years and have gone through whatever huge anointing, you create your own world. We have a small island.”

Bush will perform on Dec. 8 at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino.

'It's interesting how success comes up'

It's not unusual for a band to start with growing a fanbase and releasing at least two albums before selling the amount of records Bush did with its debut album, but Rossdale said "It's interesting how success comes up."

"We weren't a commercial band, we were a rock band that was heavier than all the Britpop bands and that sound at the time," Rossdale said. "There are few commercially minded (musicians) in England. London is the biggest irony, because if your vibe is commercially minded, it's not the place for it. Obviously, they love The Foo Fighters and Muse, but after that it drops off."

Bush had subsequent success with its sophomore release “Razorblade Suitcase,” but it only sold half the volume of its predecessor. The 1997 album “Deconstructed” and “The Science of Things” in 1999 reflected further decline in sales. But things were changing as hip-hop groups, artists such as Eminem and Kid Rock and the nu metal bands Korn and Limp Bizkit became more prominent and took over MTV.

One instance of how much things changed was explained by Rossdale in the 2022 Netflix documentary “Trainwreck: Woodstock 99.” Bush was in a hasty predicament of performing during the first night of the Woodstock 99 festival following Korn’s powerful set that energized the crowd. Thousands of festivalgoers who were left high on adrenaline were initially in no mood to end the night watching Bush, yet the band won a sizable amount of the remaining crowd over.

Looking back on 30 years of Bush

Three decades after “Sixteen Stone,” Bush released the 21-track compilation album, “Loaded: The Greatest Hits 1994-2023” in November. It’s a voyage starting at the band’s post-grunge sound on early classics and evolves to a heavier and modern sound in recent songs. The record also includes a 2012 cover of The Beatles’ “Come Together,” which was a limited release.

Rossdale said he was initially hesitant to release a greatest hits album because he didn't like the idea of a "swan song," but felt the band’s history was worth commemorating after three decades.

“I look back on 30 years, a huge amount of work and all those songs from different times, there’s some I wish were recorded better and some I would have edited more,” Rossdale said. “But in terms of a spirted band, a songwriter trying to find his way, being (steady) with leaving the listener something to hold on to, (the work) is consistent.”

‘The Art of Survival’

In 2002, the members of Bush, which also featured guitarist Nigel Pulsford, bassist David Parsons and drummer Robin Goodridge, decided to part ways after the release of its fourth album “Golden State.”

The band returned in 2010, but without Pulsford and Parsons. Goodridge rejoined but left again in 2019. Bush released “The Sea of Memories” in 2011, which began an evolution towards a modern rock sound that has continued to become heavier through the years, as heard on the 2022 album “The Art of Survival." One of the highlights is the song “More Than Machines,” which Rossdale said addresses the effects of AI and apps such as Chat GPT.

“It’s wild and incredible because the dangers and benefits of AI are well-documented,” Rossdale said.

The album also addresses human survival and adversity through times of war, occurrences of racism, COVID-19 and more. But Rossdale said he "lays in the middle" of the political aisle without being inflammatory to either side.

“The problem is when everything goes so left-wing or liberal, anything that pulls away from it is seen as sort of a right-wing move,” Rossdale said. “But if (you) come into where moderates are, which is what most sensible people should be because you’re weighing each individual and each issue individually, not everything goes in one direction or the other. I’m making honest human observations about my life and trying to put them in a way that is singular, but in a way people can understand and grab onto. That’s my vocation in life.”

From London to Los Angeles

Even though Rossdale lives in Los Angeles where he's close to his three sons with ex-wife and No Doubt singer Gwen Stefani, he said "London is in my DNA" and explained the differences between the two cities.

"I like it (London) a lot. It's culturally rich, you can't big yourself up too much, people are too down to earth and see right through it if you try to puff yourself up like the Michelin man," Rossdale said. "People don't ask you, 'What do you do?' or 'What have you been up to?' They do, but it's not career-oriented. (In Los Angeles), you have to defend yourself and what you do. We're like wily foxes and work our way into social interactions that have merit."

Desert Sun reporter Brian Blueskye covers arts and entertainment. He can be reached at brian.blueskye@desertsun.com or on Twitter at @bblueskye.

If you go

What: Bush concert

When: 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 8

Where: Fantasy Springs Resort Casino, 84-245 Indio Springs Parkway, Indio

How much: $59 to $79

More information: fantasyspringsresort.com

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Gavin Rossdale of Bush talks band's history ahead of Indio concert